Ambika bhardwaj
Published On: January 22, 2022 at 17:29 IST
The Delhi High Court ruled that in order to give Bail under Section 37 of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, a Court should have a good justification to presume that the Accused is innocent and will not commit a similar Crime while on Bail.
Section 37 of the Act deals with the categorization of the Offences found within the Act and gives for Cases in which Bail can be granted to the Accused. It establishes two Bail conditions in some Offences.
First, a Prima Facie opinion of the Accused’s innocence whereas the other is that the Accused will not commit a similar Crime while on Bail.
It was acknowledged by Justice Chandra Dhari Singh that under Section 37(b)(ii) of the NDPS Act, the Court is not compelled to be satisfactory about the dual conditions of the Accused’s innocence and that the Accused will not commit a similar Crime while on Bail, but the Court should have sufficient basis for such satisfaction.
The remark was made while the Court denied Bail to a man Accused of being involved in a Case in which seven gunny bags containing 315 kg of cannabis were managed to recover.
In response to the Bail Application, the Court stated, “The Offences prescribed by the Act are a threat not only to a specific individual but to the whole society, particularly to the nation’s youth.”
Further, the Bail Petition was rejected.